For Christine
by Jaycee27
Summary: This is an alternate ending to the movie. Erik forces Christine to stay with him but when the mob comes, she is kidnapped and Erik has to find her along with an unlikely ally. You can probably guess who. RC evetually.
1. Losing everything

A/N: Okay, this is something i've been working on for a long time. It's definiteyl my best work so far, but really that's not saying much. I want to make it as good as possible, so criticism is welcome, but only about the writing, NOT the pairing I've chosen. It is R/C, but I've tried to make Erik as in character as possible. The only time I directly criticised him is in Christine's thoughts, and I thin it;s pretty obvious why. It's an alternate ending, which should be fairly obvious. Anyway, if you like it, review, if not, don't unless you have something helpful to say.

"Are you going to say something?"

Christine's bitter voice brought Erik back to earth. And just in time! The wild emotions that had run through him when he had felt her lips on his was making him crazy. He had almost let her go. But he couldn't do that. He was the phantom of the opera and he could not show mercy. The simple fact that he was in love could not allow him to lose control of his emotions. He smiled coldly at her.

"Well, I suppose that settles it, doesn't it. I'll go untie your precious fiance and then I think we'd better go hide. I do believe there's a mob after me.

Christine bit back a cry of anguish. For a moment, she'd seen compassion in his eyes. She had almost thought that he was going to let her go. She should have realised that he would never do that.

She stole a quick glance at Raoul. There were tears in his eyes. His expression was one of utter defeat. As he turned his head sightly, she caught sight of his neck. The rope had left painful looking marks all over it. Seeing this, Christine drew in a sharp breath. Erik followed her gaze, and seeing what had made her gasp like that, he rolled his eyes. He finished untying Raoul and then shoved him out of the lair, a little more violently than necessary, Christine thought.

When Raoul was gone, and Erik had told him never to come back, he then turned his attention to Christine. She had sat down on the rocks next to the lake, her dress dragging in the water. Erik sighed as he realised that the dress he had spent so many hours making was completely ruined. But the dress was not what was important ; the girl who was wearing it was. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder but she pushed it off, glaring at him with hatred in her eyes.

"Christine," he begged, "Please, come hide with me! They'll be here any minute…"

"Go by yourself," she snapped, "I staying here."

"But Christine-" he started to say.

"I'm not coming! I won't tell them where you've gone, if that's what you're worried about"

Erik sighed. As difficult as it was for him to accept, he was going to have to leave her here until they were gone. But after all, what would they do to her? It was him they wanted. Reluctantly, he picked up one of his candlesticks and smashed the mirror, opening his secret passage. Then, with one last, long look at Christine, he let the curtain fall, and started to walk down the long hallway to the room where he would be spending the night.

Christine watched him go with a satisfied smirk.

"This only proves he doesn't really love me" she thought. She knew that if a mob had been coming after her and Raoul had been in their way, she wouldn't have left him there alone. She would do anything to save him, hadn't she just proved that? But thinking about Raoul hurt too much, so she just turned her attention to the mob who had just arrived. Christine was surprised to see that it was led by none other than Carlotta. The once beautiful diva looked as though she had seen better days. Her hair was loose and tangled, her face streaked with ashes from the fire. Her dress had been ripped by something on the way down, and there was a wild, hopeless look of crazed despair destroying her once beautiful face. The mob was not as big as it had sounded in the echoing caverns, but it was not small either. There were only three policemen with them, the rest undoubtedly had stayed upstairs trying to manage the confusion and get all the guests out of the bulding before it collapsed. The larger part of the mob was composed of stagehands, chorus singers and dancers. They were uneducated people, who had only come because they were following everyone else. Carlotta was the first one to speak.

"Where is he, _Daae_?" she sneered. She said Christine's name with such contempt that Christine knew she would never forgive her for ruining her career, "Where is that murderer who killed Piangi?" This was news to Christine. She knew Erik must have done something to Piangi to keep him from coming onstage so he could take his place, but she hadn't thought that he would kill him.

"I-I can't tell you" she stammered.

"You had better tell me, you little-"

"Carlotta! Do you realise how much she has been through tonight? Leave her alone!" Christine looked around to see who had spoken. She saw that it was Meg. Meg had always stuck up for her, and she was grateful to have her here now.

"I can't tell you where he is because I promised that I wouldn't. I won't say anything more about it." Said Christine stubbornly and defiantly.

Ah, you promised," sneered Carlotta, "You would never betray him, would you? You love him, Christine!"

Christine refused to meet her eyes. She simply stared off into the distance, not reacting to anyhting Carlotta said. Carlotta continued to insult her, trying to trick her into revealing Erik's whereabouts until one of the police officers stepped up.

"Mademoiselle Guidicelli, this is going nowhere! Why do you even think she knows where the monster is?" he asked impatiently.

"She knows! She is the ghost's lover!" Carlotta insisted.

"Well, she's not going to tell us where he is!" he said, furstrated.

"Well, then we'll just have to take her away as bait and then he'll come looking for her!" said Carlotta, pleased with her brilliant plan. The policeman brought her back down to earth, though.

"I'm afraid that would be kidnapping, and thus illegal, Mlle".

"I don't care!" she screamed, "I'm taking her!"

As the policemen tried to calm her down, a fight broke out among the mob. Most people sided with Carlotta, because they were afraid of her. A few men and Meg sided with the policemen.

The next morning, Erik came out of his passage, expecting to find Christine. Instead, he found six dead bodies and an unconcious ballerina.


	2. Awkward meetings

Thank you to mythree reviewers. It was quite a relief to hear that oyu like my characterization of Erik. I worried about writing about him because I prefer R/C and it's always harder to write characters that aren't you favourites. I'm also glad you mentioned that stuff about carlotta, psychoberd5, it's going to be very important later on! Anyway, here's the next chapter. This one was a lot more fun to write.

Erik walked over to where the 7 bodies lay. Out of all of them, Meg was the only one still breathing. When Erik put a cold hand to her neck to check that her pulse was steady, she awoke suddenly, and jumped to her feet. It was obvious that she was terrified of him. That was when he remembered that he hadn't put his mask back on.

"Stay here," he ordered in his most commanding, impressive voice. He knew that she would never dream of disobeying.

When he returned with his mask on, she was still there, shifting nervously from one foot to another. For a few moments they just stood there, staring at each other. He couldn't think how to begin questioning her. Communicating with people had never been his forte. Finally, Meg blurted out:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Phantom, monsieur, or O.g. or-"

"Stop chattering, child, you may call me Erik," he said. It came out sounding more sharp than he had intended.

"Erik…alright. Well, I swear I tried to stop them from taking Christine! There was nothing I could do! I was leading the mob originally but then Carlotta took over and, well, everyone listens to her, so there was nothing I could do!" She said this all very fast and nervously. Erik pitied the poor girl. After all, she had grown up in the opera house listening to tales about how fearsome he was. It must have taken a lot of courage for her to come down here and face him. But he had no time for pity right now. He had more important things to worry about.

"You let them take Christine?" he cried angrily.

"There was nothing I could do! I told you, I tried! Maybe if I'd been concious I would have had more luck!" she snapped. Perhaps he had underestimated her.

"I don't want to sit here and argue with you. She's in danger." He replied.

"Well, then, why are you yelling at me?" she asked.

"Never mind that!" he replied impatiently.

"Fine. When are we leaving?" she asked.

"What? We? You're not really planning to accompany me are you?" he asked.

"Well, of course! Christine's been my best friend since we were 6 years old! I'm not about to let her get hurt!" said Meg, as though it should have been obvious. And, for someone who had lived in the opera house for as long as Erik, perhaps it should have been.

Erik wasn't completely convinced but he didn't have time to argue.

"Alright, you can come with me" he said, "But we have to leave right away."

"But, Erik, there are at least 20 of them! You may be the phantom of the opera but you're only one man! How do you hope to save her alone? Face it, Erik. We need help," said Meg.

"But who would help me? Everyone hates me!" he replied.

"Can't you think of anyone?" she persisted, "You don't have any friends? Nobody owes you a debt or anything"

"A debt…well, not a debt, exactly, but….wait here, Meg. I'm going to get help. I shall be back within two hours."

Raoul and his brother, Philippe, sat in Raoul's room staring intently at the piece of paper on the table before them. Raoul still wore the tattered bloodstained shirt he had been wearing the night before. His hair was still a mess, there were dark circles under his eyes, and any trace of happiness that had once shown in the eyes above those circles had vanished completely. He hadn't gone to bed the night before. When he had returned home after the fire, he had gone straight to Philippe's room and woken him up. After hearing the story, Philippe had agreed to help Raoul. And so now they sat in front of a hastily drawn map of the opera house, arguing.

"But why can't we just go the same way you went when you went down there to rescue Chrisitne last night, Raoul?" Philippe asked tiredly.

"Because there's a trap that way," Raoul replied, " I'm not really sure which step it's on and besides, I didn't see it until I'd fallen into it!"

"Alright, Alright, we won't go that way!" grumbled Philippe.

"Besides," Raoul continued, "That's the way he'll expect us to go. We may only have one chance at this, and I won't lose her again."

"Why don't we go through this door and try to navigate through the passageways?" suggested Philippe.

"I don't know, something tells me there are probably traps all over those passageways," Said Raoul doubtfully. Philippe sighed with annoyance.

"Raoul, I've suggested aboutten different ways now! What else do you want me to say? Why don't you think of something for a change".

Raoul was silent for several minutes. Finally he spoke slowly and quietly.

"Christine said there was another way down…through her dressing room." Just saying her name made him want to cry!

"Yes, that would probably work" said Philippe, "alright, now we're going to need-"

"I would advise you not to go that way. I sealed it up months ago"

Raoul turned to see Erik standing in the middle of his bedroom, smirking. Raoul's eyes blazed with fury. He couldn't speak, he was too upset.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?" yelled Philippe, seeing his brother's anger, "Get out!"

Erik looked like he was going to obey, but Raoul stopped him.

"Wait!" he said suddenly, " what do you want?"

"Well, _Vicomte,_ it just so happens that I…need your help" he said, disgustedly.

" Are you trying to insult me? You have already tried to murder me, and taken away the only person I've ever truly loved (at this, Philippe made a little indignant sound, but nobody seemed to notice) ! What more do you want from me. And why on earth d oyou think that I would agree to help you?" said Raoul, growing more angry with each word.

Erik took a deep breath.

"because," he began slowly, "Christine is in danger.

All the color immediately drained from Raoul's face as he took in what Erik had just told him.


	3. Broken diva

**A/N: Okay, I know it's been ages but I had exams and after that, it just tok me a few days to get it written. Anyway, the chapter title is referring to Carlotta if that's not obvious, but it should be I hope. Thanks to all my reviewers, I appreciate your taking the time to read it. **

Chapter 3

The room was incredibly dark. That was the first thing Christine noticed. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and she was able to get a look at her surroundings. It was a rather large room. Her first guess was that she was in a restaurant when she saw all the old rickety tables and chairs on the floor. Then, she looked to her right and saw that it was, in fact, a bar. Suddenly she became aware of the lingering scent of alcohol and wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. The bar was ugly, dark, gloomy and obviously long abandoned. Christine decided it matched her mood perfectly. Christine knew she should probably be scared of what lay ahead. After all, she haad just been kidnapped as bait for a wanted criminal and they all thought she was on Erik's side. She didn't think she was going to be treated very nicely. But she seemed incapable of feeling anything at that moment. She didn't understand this mysterious numbness. She had never felt this. When her father had died, she had sobbed for hours in anguish. When she had fallen during one of those endless ballet rehearsals and sprained her ankle, she hadn't even gone into shock. She screamed and screamed until finally they gave her medication to make her sleep. For such an emotional girl, it was strange to be feeling so blank. She had never experienced a situation which left her so empty.

It seemed like an eternity that Christine sat alone in the darkness. Finally, the door opened and in strode Carlotta. Christine almost didn't recognise her. Her familiar strut was gone and her face was still streaked with tears. If she hadn't looked so angry, Christine would have felt sorry for her.

"Alright, tell me. Tell me where he went!" she screamed.

"I told you before, I';m not going to tell you. He's probably left by now anyway!" Christine replied wearily.

"Left? To go where? Telll me where he's going! He killed Piangi and he will pay for it!" she cried.

"To look for me of course!"Christine said.

"Of course…so you think my plan is working? Oh, what does it matter. I still want to know where he was hiding if there's the slightest chance he might still be there" said Carlotta.

"Well, there isn't" snapped Christine. She was tired of arguing with an insane woman. Carlotta obviously needed help.

"I HATE YOU" Carlotta screamed, "It's all your fault…all your fault…if it weren't for you Piangi would still be alive…I would still have my career, my life, I hate you…" Her legs gave out under her and she sank to the floor. Christine did pity her now. As she sat there sobbing, overcome by her grief, it was hard not to feel sorry for her.

"Carlotta" Christine said gently.

"Don't try to be nice to me!" she snapped, "You can't possibly understand how I feel".

"Yes I can" whispered Christine.

The events of last night finally caught up with her and the numbness was lifted. Tears poured down her face and she hugged her arms to her chest to keep them from shaking. As hard as she tried to hold them in, small sobs escaped her. She had never felt so utterly alone. The future didn't exactly hold a lot of possibilties. For the moment, she was trapped. She would be freed eventually. She knew Erik would never leave her there and he was far too intelligent to be caught by a bunch of uneducated opera singers and a few stagehands. Yes, she would get out of here, if they didn't decide to kill her first, but why should that matter. She would never be truly free. The jealous phantom would keep her locked away under the opera house, or wherever else he decided to imprison her. She would be kept away from the light and it would destroy her. They could never have a happy marriage because she could never forgive him. And eventually he would grow to resent her, too. She desperately tried to think of a way that it could be possible for Raoul to save er instead of Erik, but at the same time, she knew it would never happen. How could he possibly know she was here?

"Is he dead? The phantom?" asked Carlotta, quietly. The madness that Christine had witnessed in her only moments before seemed to have gone and yet, she was not the confident diva who had stolen the show so many times in the days before Christine revealed her amazing talent.

"No" replied Christine, "Why would you think that?"

"You said you understand how I feel. I thought he must have died." Said Carlotta.

"I don't love him," said Christine, exasperated, "The one I love isn't dead, I just won't ever see him again.He would have died, though. He said he'd die for me"

"Hah. Men are always making promises like that" scoffed Carlotta, "They're all the same. At least that was what I thought until I met Ubaldo. Why am I telling you this? It's your fault he's dead. I'm going now, but I'll be back. And next time if you don't talk you will pay!" She ran from the room. Christine thought she heard Carlotta crying on the other side of the door as the lock slowly turned and Christine was trapped and alone once more.


	4. A bad start

Chapter 4

"The mob took her" Erik said quietly.

"You let them take her?" shouted Raoul angrily, "How could you?"

"Believe me, Vicomte, I didn't have a whole lot of choice in the matter! I told her to come hide with me and she refused!" snapped Erik. "So you just left her there, completely defenseless?" demanded Raoul.

"Well…yes. Look, I didn't have much time, alright? There was a huge group of men with torches swords and pistols coming for me. What would you have done?" Erik spat, trying desperately to defend his reasoning.

"I imagine I would have done the same thing I did last time someone tried to kidnap her," said Raoul. The anger had left his voice. The severity of what had happened was starting to hit him. Raoul turned away, not wanting to let Erik see tears in his eyes.

"I'll help you find her" he said.

Philippe pulled Raoul aside and spoke to him in a quiet voice, so that Erik wouldn't hear.

"Raoul! What do you think you're doing? If you just agree to help, he's just going to take her for himself once you find her. Tall him you won't help unless you can have Christine!"

"Don't be an idiot, Philippe!" Raoul snapped, "He'll never let me have her! I don't think he needs my help badly enough that he would agree to any condition at all!"

"Raoul, nobody could take on an entire mob alone!" insisted Philippe.

"Somehow, I almost think he could…"replied Raoul.

"Then, why ask for your help at all? It must be a trap! He wants to get you killed!" said Philippe.

"No," replied Raoul, "Somehow I don't think so. I don't really trust him, but surely even he would never try something like that! All the same, we had better keep an eye on him."

"Well, how are you going to get her back, then?" asked Philippe.

"Why do you care? You're against our marriage anyway!" said Roaul angrily.

"Well, it's true it would cause quite a scandal…not to mention, she would have a hard time being accepted into society, but, the truth is, Raoul, I've never seen you so happy as you have been for the past few months…and I've never seen you as depressed as you were when you came home tonight. If she means that much to you, I won't protest against your marriage. But first you have to get her back!"

Raoul looked at his brother for a moment before replying.

"I'll think of something. And, Philippe? Thank you"

The next day, the four companions were several miles out of Paris. Not wanting to tire the horses unecessarily, they were going at a fast walking pace, rather than the powerful gallop that both Raoul and Erik were longing to ride at. Their anxiousness to find Christine showed on their faces. Meg and Philippe made several attempts at conversation to distract the united enemies, but Raoul's replies were distant and Erik blatantly ignored everything they said, and eventually they lapsed back into silence. But surprisingly, after several hours of this, Erik broke the silence by addressing Raoul.

"Vicomte, what was Christine like as a child?" he asked. He had tutored Christine from a very young age, and knew so much about her, and yet he wanted to know about every aspect of her life. He had always been curious about her life before the opera house. Somehow he sensed she had been different before coming to him.

"It's hard to describe…" Raoul began softly, "I had never met anyone like her before. She was beautiful even then, and she was always so happy and carefree. We used to play for hours…she ahd a wonderful imagination and loved stories. We had the most wonderful times together. We would stay out playing all day and when her father would call her for supper, we used to hide, so that we could stay together longer." Raoul smiled in spite of himself. Erik could imagine what the boy was saying so clearly in his mind that he began to feel jealous of the past that his angel had shared with another man.

"But," Raoul continued, "She's different now. When I knew her she never stopped smiling. But for the past year, I've barely seen her smile at all. She's been haunted by nightmares, she's constantly afraid." His voice was different now. It was colder, and all the happinesss was gone.

"Funny," he said angrily, his voice flooded with bitterness, "Since _you_ came along, she stopped being so innocent. She's changed, and that little girl who was always so filled with happiness has become this empty, sad young woman.You destroyed her!" This last statement was directed accusingly at Erik. Raoul shot Erik a murderous glance before digging his heels viciously into the horse's side and riding so far ahead that he was almost out of sight.

Erik could not believe that everything was going so badly already. How dare that ignorant boy accuse him of hurting Chrisitne! She had come to him willingly! And yet, he knew tht there a small bit of truth to those hateful words. Erik had lied to Christine. He had pretended to be an angel and told her he had been sent by her father. He tried to tell himself that it was justified, that he had only done it because he loved her. That was true…but perhaps he should have been honest with her after all. If he had been honest with her would she have loved him? He was sure the answer was no, for who could ever love a monster? And, in truth after she had seen his face, she had betrayed him! In the end, though, he had to admit, he had betrayed her more. It was he who had tried to kill the Vicomte simply because he stood in Erik's way. And now, he would have to put up with the boy until they found Christine. The prospect made Erik shudder. How could he ever have thought he could stand to be the Vicomte's ally?

Raoul pushed his horse faster than it was fair to force the poor animal to go. Raoul had never treated his horses badly before, the way many nobles he knew did, but the circumstances made it so that he could barely think. His eyes stung and his vision blurred as tears cam pouring out of his eyes. He tried to convince himself that these tears came from the wind blowing in his face, but he knew that they were really for Christine. He blamed Erik for turning her the way she had become, but he blamed himself for her kidnapping. How could he ever have thought that placing Christine in danger had been the solution to their problems? He had failed her, and now she was gone. Suddenly, Raoul noticed that the sun was beginning to set. He stopped his horse, dismounted and sat on the ground, waiting for the others to catch up.


	5. Chapter 5

.com/content/entry-262


End file.
